A Hope for Tomorrow
by Crazysnakelover
Summary: Set right after WW ignores events of PH. Link, Tetra and the pirates are still looking for a new Hyrule, but when Link suddenly fall ill with pneumonia they are forced to turn around and sail back to the nearest island, but will they make it in time?
1. Cabin Fever

**Disclaimer, I don't own Zelda, it is owned by Nintendo**

Cabin Fever

* * *

Tetra sat on her bed looking over her sea charts, she briefly looked out her window at the endless sea, then back at the sea charts. _Nothing in 19 days_, a sigh of frustration escaped her lips, she hastily rolled up the sea chart and threw it toward the opposite end of her room before storming out.

She stepped out on the deck and squinted up at the sun. Her eyes fell onto her crew, they all seemed to be doing there work. Gonzo was manning the steering wheel; Niko was probably below deck where he was supposed to be. But there was one of her crew that she didn't see, "Where's Link?" she asked Nudge who was standing closest to her.

Nudge looked around briefly and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure?"

Tetra's eyes narrowed dangerously, "If that kid is sleeping on the crows nest again, I'm going to kill him."

Up on the crows nest Link was indeed sleeping, but at the mention of his name his eyes snapped open and he managed to hear the last thing Tetra said. He jumped to his feet and called down to Tetra, "I'm right here. I wasn't sleeping, I was …" his sentence was cut off by a yawn "… looking out for new land."

Tetra new he was lying through his teeth and fire burned in her eyes, "YOU LITTLE BRAT, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU A LESSON YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D LEARN!" she screamed and started climbing up the ladder.

Link had seen this before and new that if he let her catch him, she was going to give him a beating of his life, "Wha oh."

The boy jumped onto the top that led up to the crow's nest (AKA the net like thing you see on old ships) and quickly climbed down to the deck. "Hey that's cheating!" Tetra yelled and jumped down from the ladder, landing on her two feet and left hand. By the time she got a hold of her bearings Link was running toward the door that led below deck.

The boy just barely managed to open the door and run in close and lock it before Tetra caught up to him. She pulled on the door handle but it was already locked, so she started beating her fists against the wood, "Get out here and take your medicine like a man!" she screamed.

Linked started backing away from the door, fearing that she would knock it down. After several minutes the door beating stopped, "Fine have it your way, but you can't stay in there forever. One of these days you'll have to come out," Tetra's voice sounded on the other side of the door, and then her footsteps were heard walking away.

A sudden voice behind him made Link jump, "What did you do to get her so angry?"

Link turned around to see Niko staring at him, "Did you sneak into her room and raid her underwear?" Niko continued.

"Niko, if I did that, I'd be on the bottom of the ocean, cut to ribbons by now," Link replied, "And how much of a pervert do you thing I am?"

"Than what did you do, I haven't seen her that mad in a long time?"

"She just caught me sleeping in the crows nest again, but that's no reason for her to want to kill me, even if it was the 97th time she caught me."

Niko shook his head slowly, "You know what I think it is, I think we all have a severe case of cabin fever. I said hi Senza while passing him by and he practically threw me overboard."

Link nodded slowly, "I believe you, we've been sailing for almost three weeks strait and haven't seem any sort of land let alone a land that could make a new Hyrule."

* * *

Tetra waited outside on the deck, knowing that Link wouldn't last that long in there. She was ready to pounce as soon as he showed his guilty face. The door slowly opened and a white flag appeared, "I-I come in peace," Niko's face appeared from behind the door.

"Niko, get back in there and make that brat come out here _now_," Tetra ordered angrily, looking like she was ready to kill the next person that got closest to her.

Niko shuddered violently, I have a message from Link. He will come out; when he knows that it is safe to come out without getting jumped by you."

"He deserves me wrath!" Tetra shouted.

"He wants to speak freely without worrying about getting his face broken," Niko continued.

Tetra fumed for a few seconds than finally gave in, "Fine, I won't beat his face in." Niko then ducked back into the cabin, they could hear his voice say, "Its safe now Link."

The blond boy came into view, "Um, so Tetra-"

The female pirate cleared her throat loudly and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I mean, _Miss_ Tetra," Link corrected himself. He knew that she must be majorly pissed at him; he was the only one out of the crew that could get away with calling her Tetra, except when she was REALLY angry with him. "I'm … I'm sorry that I fell asleep in the crows nest again. I just did it all the time back when I was living with my grandmother, and I'm used to it. And since we've been sailing for so long, cabin fever has been getting to me and I've been really tired."

There was a very tense silence where everyone watched Tetras facial expression change from angry, to pissed, to fuming, to where there was murder in her eyes. She then closed her eyes, took a deep breath and said very tensely, "Fine, whatever. Just don't let it happen again," with that she stormed off to her room, leaving Link and the rest of the crew in shock. They were all sure that Link was going to spending the next few days putting his face back together.

**All right real short, and kind of has nothing to do with the story. This is my sad attempt to put humor into the story before all the drama happens, second chapter will be up shortly. As usual, flames are invited not necessarily welcome, constructive criticism is welcome with open arms. **


	2. Almost Drowning

Almost Drowning

* * *

The days dragged on, with no hope of land in site. As they reached there 24th day of endless sea, they ended up sailing straight into a vicious storm. The entire crew was on deck all working together to keep the ship afloat. Gonzo was at the steering wheel desperately trying to keep the ship under control, while Tetra was barking orders to the other crew members.

Link was trying to keep from falling over, as the ship tossed and turned. Being the youngest and newest member of the crew, there was nothing for him to do during these situations. In fact he wasn't even supposed to be on deck right now; but there was always the hope that _this_ time maybe they would need him.

Tetra looked over and noticed for the first time that Link was where he wasn't supposed to be, "Link, go below deck!" she shouted.

Link grabbed onto the side of the boat as the ship swayed unexpectedly, "But Tetra, I can help," he shouted back.

"No you can't, you'll just get in the way, get below deck NOW! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Tetra screamed, then suddenly a large wave came over the boat taking Tetra to the complete other side of the ship. She grabbed onto the side of the boat to pull herself to her feet then she suddenly heard Senza shout, "LINK NO!"

Tetra was almost certain she knew what that meant, but she hoped against hope that she was wrong. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. _Please don't say it, please don't say it, please don't say it_, "MAN OVERBOARD!" Senza's voice could be heard loudly over the crashing waves. _CRAP!_

Tetra wasted no time in running over to where half of her crew was looking overboard. By the time she got there, Gonzo had already given the steering wheel to Nudge and had dived into the water to rescue there smallest crew member.

Link struggled against the oceans strong currents, the salt water was rough was the coldness bit right into his skin. He was tossed around by the waves and couldn't get to the surface for the air his lungs demanded. The darkness was starting to form around his eyes, he was dimly aware of someone wrapping there arms around him before he fully lost consciousness.

Back on deck almost the entire crew was looking over board, counting the seconds the two were underwater. Just when Tetra was starting to think that they had been underwater too long, Gonzo broke the surface. They could see a very limp looking blonde hero, "He's got him, throw them a life line!" Tetra ordered, and Mako threw a rope into the water.

Everyone including Tetra grabbed the rope and pulled them in. Gonzo climbed back on the ship with one arm and held Link with his other arm. Tetra noticed how small the boy looked, being help in a very childlike manner, in Gonzo's large arms. Once Gonzo was on the ship, he slipped his arm underneath Links legs, so he could hold the boy bridle style.

Gonzo didn't need to be told what to do next, he headed strait below deck, and Tetra was the only one that followed him. Gonzo laid the soaking wet Link on the wood floor outside Tetra's room and started doing CPR.

"Stupid kid … he doesn't listen to anything I say … he always has to play the hero," Tetra fumed, but she was really trying to hide her worry.

Gonzo continued to do CPR, the seconds seemed like centuries' to Tetra. She balled her hands together and squeezed as hard as she could. After what seemed like a lifetime Link finally started coughing up all the saltwater that he inhaled. Tetra unsuccessfully tried to hold back a sigh of relieve, and Gonzo put Link into recovery position.

Once Link was finished coughing up all the water, he started to throw up everything he had eaten in the past two days all over the floor. Gonzo lifted Link into a sitting position and held him still as he continued to empty the contents of his stomach. Once he was finished, he started to shiver uncontrollable. Tetra already had a blanket ready to wrap around him.

Gonzo wrapped the blanket around the shivering boy, which only resulted in Links shivers to become worse, "Stupid kid, when are you going to learn to listen to me?" Tetra asked in a jokingly voice.

Link didn't reply, he didn't think he could with all the shivering he was doing. Tetra shook her head slowly then looked up as the ship gave a violent shudder, "Gonzo go take him to bed, I got to go make sure we don't sink," with that she stood up and went back on deck.

Gonzo easily lifted Link into his arms, and took him over to his bed. He set the boy on the mattress and wrapped two more thick blankets around him, "You better stay down here," Gonzo ordered before leaving.

Link felt so tired, he didn't even want to think about getting up and going up onto deck. He started coughing again and just laid there in a daze until he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

**I think this shorter than my last capter, sorry next chapter is guaranteed to be longer. I would like to say thank you to those who offered there time to give me feedback. Next chapter is already written so it will be up shortly.**


	3. Turning Back

Turning Back

* * *

The next time Link awoke, he felt much better then he did when he fell asleep. He got up from bed and put his feet on the cold wood floor. A few miled coughs fell from his lips as he walked up the stairs to get above deck.

The sky was sunny and cloudless from right after the storm, Gonzo as normal was at the wheel Nudge was up by the head, and Zuko was in the crows nest looking for sight of new land. Niko, Mako and Senza were in a conversation with Tetra by the cockpit. They all stopped talking when he approached, obviously meaning that they were talking about him, "Speak of the devil … hey kid, how ya feeling?" Tetra asked.

"Um … ok I guess," Link replied.

"You gave us a right good scare mate," Senza explained.

"Yah and I had to clean up your mess last night," Niko complained.

At that, confusion appeared on Links face, all he did was fall overboard. Unless he broke something on his way down, he didn't see why Niko would have to clean up anything he made. By the look on Links face, Tetra knew exactly what he was thinking, "After Gonzo revived you last night, you threw up everything you ate yesterday. Niko was chosen to clean it up," Tetra explained then added with a laugh, "As you can see he wasn't two happy about it."

"Yah I thought I was don't being the low man of the totem poll," Nick complained.

"Gee, sorry Niko, but I couldn't really help it, I don't even remember doing it," Link apologized. Niko just crossed his arms over his chest and pouted like a child.

* * *

The days passed on normally, the only different thing was that Link couldn't stop coughing. It was getting increasingly worse. On the forth day after Link almost drowned, Tetra ordered him to stay in bed for the day. Though he was unhappy about it at the time, after five minutes of lying down he was dead asleep for the rest of the day.

When Tetra awoke the next morning, she went out onto the deck and saw the rest of the crew doing what they were supposed to be doing, except she didn't see Link anywhere. Tetra shook her head disapprovingly, _he's probably sleeping in the crows nest again._ She walked back towards the head of the ship to get a better view of the large tower, and was surprised to see Zuko standing up there, "Hey Zuko, is Link up there," Tetra called.

The other pirate looked down at her, "No Miss," he called, "He was still asleep when we all got up."

Tetra sighed in frustration while shaking her head, "Lazy bum, I'll go get him up." With that she headed back below deck. Sure enough once she got to everyone else's sleeping quarters there was a bundle of blanks on one of the far beds, slowly rising and falling. "Come on kid, it's time to get up!" Tetra called from across the room.

Link didn't even stir, the girl growled in frustration. Looks like she's going to have to go over there and drag him out of bed, "Did you hear me Link, get up."

She walked over to the bed he was lying on and she was just about to drag the blankets off him and push him onto the floor when she froze. Link was downright pale, with his cheeks flushed with fever, and she didn't noticed before, how uneven his breathing was. Thoroughly alarmed now, she started to shake the boy awake, "Link … Link wake up."

A groan could be heard from the boy and he opened his eyes, which looked unnaturally bright and glassy, to look at her, "Grandma?" Link asked in a very weak and raspy voice. Then he broke into a horrible coughing fit that sounded ten times worse than it did yesterday. The fit got so bad, that he couldn't get another mouthful of air before another cough took his breath away.

After Tetra noticed that the boy was starting to turn blue from lack of air, she quickly pulled him up to a sitting position. Now in this new position, Links coughing to subside. Once it died down completely she gently eased him back to lie down. Link then brought his hands down from his mouth, where he was holding them during the coughing fit. This is when Tetra noticed the blood on his hands. _CRAP!_

"You wait here Link, I'll be right back," Tetra said then ran back up to the deck, knowing exactly who she was looking for.

She found him doing his normal job, "Nudge, come with me, I need your help with something," Tetra ordered without explanation.

"What, is Link refusing to get up?" Nudge asked.

"Just come with me," Tetra ordered again. Nudge was the only one on the crew that knew much about illnesses. He went through one year of medical school before he dropped out and became a pirate. So he ended up being the unofficial doctor when someone became really ill.

Once the two were below deck, Nudge froze in midstride at the sight of the sick boy, "Wow he looks awful," was all he said.

"Just tell me what's wrong with him," Tetra ordered, starting to lose her patients.

Nudge walked over to the bed Link was lying on and put his hand on the boys fevered forehead. Then he got down to her knees pulled the blankets down, pushed up Links shirt and laid one of his ears on the boys chest. Several seconds passed where no one moved, after about thirty second Nudge stood up put Links shirt and blankets back in there previous positions and turned to Tetra, "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think it's double pneumonia."

"Double pneumonia, is that something different from pneumonia?" Tetra asked.

"No not really, but pneumonia is just a general term for the sickness, there's different types of the sickness. There's right sided pneumonia is when there's fluid in the right lung, left sided pneumonia is when the fluids in the left lung, and double pneumonia is when the fluids in both of the lungs," Nudge explained.

Tetra closed her eyes and let out a loud sigh, worry clearly etching her facial features, "So what's the cure?" she asked.

"Well there isn't a one cure; you just sort of have to get over it, with bed rest and take potions to help with the fever and coughing. And our current location is defiantly not one for recovering from pneumonia."

Tetra sighed once again, but this time it was in defeat. She knew that there was only one thing to do, but she sure didn't want to do it.

* * *

"Turn back?" Gonzo asked in confusion, after Tetra ordered him and the rest of the crew that they had to turn around and head back for the nearest island.

"But Miss Tetra, we haven't seen a spit of land in almost a month, It could take even longer to get back," Senza pointed out.

"We have to, Link is very ill and we need to sail to the nearest island," Tetra replied.

"But we could keep sailing this way and find land tomorrow," Mako suggested.

"We could also keep sailing and not find land for months, I'm no going to take that chance. We're turning around and sailing back to the nearest island, and that's an order!" Tetra yelled that last line.

No more was said about it, Tetra went back below deck with a cool washcloth, in some attempted to bring down Links raging fever. Nudge didn't really know much else to do with Link, so he just told Tetra to keep a cold compress on him and get him to drink lots of water.

Link didn't seem to recognize Tetra in his fevered state. She spent the day next to him, mostly because he seemed to be the calmest around her; she figured it was because he seemed to think that she was his grandmother, and his grandmother was probably the one that always took care of him when he had fallen sick, back when he was living with her.

She regularly changed his cold compress, and offered him water when he woke up. Nudge told her that it would help ease the coughing to prop his pillow up so he can lay in an incline. Later on that day Niko came down to visit them, and he was carrying with him a bowl of soup. "Hello Princess Zelda," he greeted.

"Niko, if you call me that one more time; I will personally throw you overboard, and no one will shout 'man overboard,'" Tetra threatened.

"Sorry Miss Tetra," Niko apologized seeming unfazed by the threat. "Since my little swabbie is feeling under the weather, I decided to go ahead and make him some bone soup."

"You know how much he hates that stuff," Tetra pointed out

"But it's guaranteed to make under the weather pirates feel better," Niko replied.

"If you can get him to eat it."

"Link will do anything I ask him, because I'm his friend."

"He probably won't even recognize you; he thinks _I'm_ his grandmother."

Niko looked a bit shocked, and looked down at the very pale Link, "Hoy, he much really be out of it then," he commented.

"Ya Think."

The two looked back at Link as a coughing fit hit him again. Tetra sighed for what felt like the millionth time, and helped the boy sit up so that he was more elevated. Once the fit passed she gently eased him back against the pillows. Link stared at the two of them with glassy dull half lidded eyes, "Hay there swabbie, how ya doing?" Niko asked cheerfully.

"Go away Almos, I don't want to play," Link mumbled so softly they almost couldn't understand him.

Tetra and Niko exchanged looks for no words needed to be spoken "Well this will surely help him feel better," Niko spoke up and sat on the side of the bed that Tetra wasn't sitting on, with the bone soup in hand.

Tetra's facial features scrunched in disgust as she stared at the foul soup. Sure is was the best thing to give to someone that had fallen ill and there being no potions around, but still, from the actual name of the soup to the contents of it made it very off putting.

Niko got a spoonful of the soup and held it up to Links lips, the boy immediately turned his head away. Tetra almost laughed, "I told you he wouldn't eat it willingly," she said.

The smaller pirate sighed in frustration and refused to give up, "Come on swabbie, just take a little bit," he urged.

But Link refused to take any of it, he clutched onto Tetra and continued to move his head away from the awful spoon. Tetra was laughing hysterically at Niko's expense. Finally when Link was thrashing around so wildly that the soup was spilling all over, Niko gave into defeat.

Tetra had fallen off the bed and was lying on her back, holding her stomach as she laughed uncontrollable. After several moments she got a hold of herself and sat up, wiping away a stray tear from her eye, "I got to admit, that was entertaining."

Niko crossed his arms over his chest and pouted like a child, "But still, he hasn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. It will probably help to get some food in his stomach," Tetra continued, "We should try and get him to eat something he actually likes, Niko is there anymore of that stew we had last night."

"I don't know, I'll go check," Niko replied and left to go back up to the deck.

While he was gone, Tetra changed Links cold compress and gave him some more water, which he took much easier than the soup. He then laid back down with his head on Tetra's lap and was fast asleep again. Niko came back shortly with another steaming bowl of more appetizing stew, alone with some hard tack, "There was a little bit left, I also brought some hard tack, because Link likes it so much. I'm sure he'll at least eat those," he said proudly.

"Good idea," Tetra said and gently shook Link awake then lifted him back up so that he sat in a sitting position. The hero groaned in protest at being woken up, but obediently sat up and leaned against Tetra with his head laid against her shoulder and his eyes half lidded.

Niko got a spoonful of the stew and once again held up to Links mouth, but the same reaction came from the boy. Link continued to move his head away from the spoon refusing to let anything pass through his mouth. Niko didn't go as long as last time, he lowered the spoon back down into the bowl, and looked at Tetra as if asking what to do now.

Tetra sighed yet again, becoming worried from the fact that Link was refusing to eat, "Try some of the hard tack," she suggested.

Niko set the bowl down and tried to give him some of the cracker; but he also refused it. Tetra was starting to lose her patients, "Here, give me the stew; maybe I can get him to eat."

Niko handed her the bowl and now it was her turn to try and get the boy to take a spoonful of the warm liquid, "Come on kid, just eat a little bit."

Link continued to give the same treatment at keeping his mouth away from the food that was being offered, "Come on kid, eat it," Tetra continued to urge, "EAT IT!" he yelled in pure frustration.

Link jumped in fear and for the first time tried to pull away from the lady pirate, "So what do we do now?" Niko asked.

"I'll force it down his throat if I have to," was all of Tetra's reply, she had put the stew bowl down and was in the process of trying to calm down the delusional Link that was now afraid of her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said behind them.

They both turned to look at Mako who just walked in, "And why do you say that?" Tetra asked heatedly.

"Because if the kid is out of it, as much as Nudge says, then he could very well look at one of us and think we're an enemy," Mako explained much like a know it all.

"He thinks I'm his grandmother," Tetra pointed out.

The small pirate just smirked, "Are you sure, he seemed afraid of you when I walked in?"

"I just yelled at him, it's probably not something his grandmother does," Tetra replied.

"Exactly, he doesn't recognize any of us, so if that kid for any reason becomes afraid of us, than he might try and run away, which could be fatal."

Tetra and Niko looked at each other, as much as she hated to admit it, Tetra knew he was right, "Stop being such a know it all, don't you have chores to do up on deck."

Mako smirked knowingly before leaving the room, "So now what do we do?" Niko asked.

Tetra looked out the window at the ocean, _what would Links grandmother do_? She looked back at Link and asked for the bowl again. She once again tried to coax him into eating, but this time she thought about what the kid's grandmother would do in this situation. It seemed to work much better then what they were doing before.

Tetra managed to get Link to eat half of the stew and a few bites of the hard tact. But when started to thrash around wildly she knew that he had enough and it was no use to try and get him to take anymore. Niko offered to watch Link for a while so Tetra could go out on deck and get some fresh air.

She agreed and went up on deck, she stared out at the endless sea, it wasn't looking very good for Link. They had been going for almost a month without seeing any sign of land, and the wind was against them so it would probable take even longer. Could the hero of winds last that that long. He was already looking bad, she looked up and saw that the sun was setting, _It's going to be a long night._

* * *

**... Well ... I guess this was an 'ok' chapter, as I promised it is longer than my first two. For those of you that are curious about what bone soup is. It is soup that people would make as a healing potion, it was made with whatever bones they had around so it was good for you because of all calcium from the bones. And after reading how it was made, it didn't sound very appetizing.**


	4. The Miracle

The Miracle

* * *

Tetra was correct; it was indeed a very long night. It started with Link crying out for his grandmother keeping all the other pirates awake. The only thing that got him to stop was for Tetra to sit on the bed and hold him gently in her arms. If she even tired to get up when she thought he fell asleep, he would start shouting again.

This kept him quiet till about halfway through the night, she was just dozing off when Link woke up from his uneasy sleep complaining about stomach aches. Luckily they weren't surprised when the boy started to vomit everything Tetra had managed to get him to eat, they were able to have a bucket ready for when it happened.

Link spent the remainder of the night dry heaving, and finally passed out just as the sun was coming up. The other pirates decided to go and sleep up on the deck, leaving Tetra and Link all alone below deck. Her eyes strayed toward the ceiling as she heard movement, this meant that the other pirates were getting up. After making sure that Link was indeed totally passed out, she quietly got out of the bed and snuck up to the deck.

Tetra was totally exhausted, she passed by her room on the way up and her limbs screamed at her to go lay down and sleep. She refused the urge and continued out the door, where the sun was shining brightly, "Good morning Miss Tetra, how's the kid doing?" Mako asked.

Tetra let out a sigh that sounded more like a groan, "He finally passed out," she announced.

"You look like you about to pass out yourself, maybe you should go and get some sleep," Gonzo suggested.

"No, no, I'm alright," Tetra reassured, this was followed by a yawn.

All the crew looked at each other like they didn't believe her, but wisely remained silent. The morning went by normally. Tetra stared out at the ocean, hoping by some miracle that she would see land off in the distance. The lack of sleep eventually got to her, Niko came over to ask her a question and she turned around to answer, but she never even saw his face before the darkness took her.

"Miss Tetra," Niko gasped as he saw the girl pass out right in front of him, he dropped to his knees and started to shake her, "Miss Tetra … wake up."

"Niko what did you do?" Senza demanded running over to where Tetra laid.

"I didn't do anything, she just collapsed," Niko defended himself, while Senza felt for a pulse.

"She must have fallen ill also; oh what are we going to do?" Niko cried.

"Don't be stupid, she only passed out from lack of sleep probably," Senza told the wailing Niko, "I'll go take her to bed," with that the large pirate easily lifted Tetra into his arms and went below deck.

* * *

When Tetra woke up again, she found herself on her bed in her room not remembering how she got there. She thought back to where she was last in her memory. _Lets see, I was up with Link all night, then after he passed out I went out on deck, and then Niko was asking me a question and then … _her mind went blank after that.

Realization slowly hit her, she must have passed out and one of her crew members carried her in here. A sudden noise that sounded like someone shivering made her look to her floor. She was surprised to see Link curled up on her floor, shivering violently, "Link!" Tetra shouted in alarm and quickly jumped off her bed and fell to her knees in front of the blonde boy, gently shaking him.

"Link … Link wake up," she called softly.

The hero of winds groaned softly and blearily opened his glassy blue eyes to look at the female pirate, "T-Te…tra," he muttered weakly before the horrible cough took his voice.

Tetra was surprised to actually hear him call her by her actual name, when every since he became ill, he'd think that she was his grandmother. She took this as a good sign and smiled, "Hey kid, nice to know you recognized me."

Link sat up slowly, still shivering and looked around the room looking lost and confused, this made Tetra start to worry again, "Where am I?" Link asked with his voice clearly cracking

"You're on the floor of my room," Tetra replied.

The ill hero gave a sharp shiver and wrapped his arms around himself, "I'm … c-cold," he complained and let out a few horrible sounding coughs.

"I'm not surprised," Tetra replied with a warm sympathetic smile, "You were sleeping on the cold floor of my room, and you're also very sick."

Link whimpered softly, leaning back against Tetra and she wrapped her arms around him comfort, "Come on," she spoke up, "Lets get you back to bed."

The blonde girl stood up and helped Link get to her feet, pulling his arm over her shoulder so that he could put most of his weight on her. Together they slowly made there way down the steps to where the his bed was. She helped him lie down and pulled the blankets over him, "Do you want anything to eat? Niko made some bone soup yesterday."

"I hate that stuff," Link replied.

"I know," Tetra agreed sympathetically, "But its good for you, and should make you feel better." Link groaned in a whining fashion but eventually agreed. Tetra was able to coax him into eating all of it and he eventually fell asleep.

The days passed by slowly, Link continued to get worse. His fever raged endlessly, his cough got so bad he started coughing up tons of blood, and he would shiver uncontrollable taking away whatever strength he had left.

But something else was happening. Tetra would spend endless hours by Links bedside. When she got tired to looking out at endless ocean, she would stare at his pale face. While doing this she would think about the two of them; though she usually didn't feel like it, Tetra knew that she was a princess. And Link was a hero, they both held a part of the sacred triforce.

She unconsciously looked down at the back of her left hand, she couldn't see it; but nevertheless, she knew it was there. Her eyes strayed toward Links left hand, the symbol was also invisible. Tetra eyes went back to the pale boys face, "You got to pull through Link, you have to," she pleaded to his unconscious body.

Could she be falling in love with him?

"No," Tetra told herself out loud, "I can't be falling in love with him, its impossible."

* * *

A week had passed by since Link had fallen ill, and a sorrow had fallen upon the ship. Though none dared to admit it in front or there captain, they all knew that Link wouldn't make it back to the next island. Tetra especially knew this but refused to admit it, Link had gotten so sick that he could barely stay awake long enough to drink anything, and his fever had reached dangerous levels, if it got any higher then it was time to fear brain damage.

"Do you think we should bury him out at sea, or wait until we land," Niko suddenly spoke up. The ship had been dead silent for almost an hour.

"Shut up Niko, if Miss Tetra heard you say that, _you_ would be the one buried out at sea," Gonzo shot at the rooky pirate.

Zuko was at his post on top of the crow's nest, looking through a telescope. He saw no point in doing this, because it was impossible for there to be land at this point. But then suddenly he thought he saw something off in the distance … Land? It couldn't be.

He zoomed in on the speck to get a better look, and sure enough it was an island coming up. Completely bewildered but at the same time ecstatic he yelled as loud as he could, "LAND HO!"

Gonzo looked up at the crows nest in shock, "Zuko, what are you talking about, you must be seeing things."

Tetra was down below deck, she also heard Zuko yell, _Did he say land, that's impossible, I must have heard wrong_. But then he heard it again, "LAND HO!"

That's it, she had to find out what was up. Placing a cold compress back on Links head, before gong back up on deck. "What's going on up here?" she asked.

"Miss, I've spotted land," Zuko yelled down to her.

"Zuko, you better not be playing a joke on us," Tetra threatened.

"Its true miss, come see for yourself."

A sigh escaped Tetra's lips as she started to climb up the ladder, "I swear if this is a joke to try and cheer me up, that you're a dead man," she muttered as she reached the top and snatched the telescope from Zuko and looked through.

She looked in the direction that Zuko was pointing and zoomed into the speck. _That's not possible_, "It is land," she cried out happily, "There's an island off in the distance," she yelled down to the rest of the crew.

Unbelieved looks passed all of the crews faces and they ran over to the side of the ship to see if they could see the land, even Gonzo left the wheel, "Where is it, I don't see anything?" Senza asked.

"I see it, I see it," Mako called out.

The entire ship rejoiced at the site of the island, there was still a chance for the hero. As they sailed closer, it was announced that the island was Dragon Roost Island. It took forty-five minutes to reach the island. Once they reached the island they were greeted by prince Komali.

They had docked the ship next to the small island and put the gangplank down, Senza already had Link in his arms bundled in a blanket by the time they reached the island.

"Hello Princess Tetra," Komali greeted as Tetra walked off the gangplank, the prince Rito didn't know much about what happened to her and Link but he did find out that Tetra was a princess, "It's nice to see you guys again."

"Sorry Komali, but there's no time for chat, Link is really sick and he needs help fast," Tetra explained urgently.

Komali's face etched with worry, "Oh no, come on up inside, I'll fly ahead and warn everyone," he said and flew off toward his home.

By the time Tetra and the pirates had made it inside, the other Rito's were ready for them, Prince Komali's father took Link from Gonzo's arms with word and headed off into another room, followed by several other Rito's. Tetra was the only one of the pirates that followed him also.

The Rito's seemed to know exactly what to do, Komali's father told Quill to go to Windfall Island and get potions. While they waited for him to get back, they gave Link a cold bath, in an attempt to bring his fever down. By the time they were finished with that, Quill had returned with the potions and somehow they managed to coax the hero of winds into drinking them.

Tetra was just standing around with nothing to do, so eventually she excused herself and waited outside with the other pirates. They all just stood around, some pacing, some standing, and some sitting for one agonizing hour. Finally Komali's father came out to give them a progress report.

"Well, his fever is no longer at harmful levels," he announced, at this everyone of them gave a sigh of relief, "But it has not broken yet, he is still confused and is not sure where he is."

"Is he going to be ok," Niko interrupted.

"It is too soon to tell, his fever could go up again, we will just have to wait and see if he can pull through," the Rito King explained, and at the look on the pirates faces he added, "Do not be discouraged, he is doing much better then when he first arrived, and that is progress."

* * *

Later that night Tetra was looking over her sea charts, confusion laid on her facial features, "Hey Gonzo, come over here," she called to her larger crew member.

Gonzo walked over to where Tetra was sitting and looked down at the sea chart she was looking at.

"Look at this," Tetra started pointing to a small island on the map, "This is Mainful island, the last island that we saw. And from there, we had been sailing for almost a month, which would have us somewhere around here." Her finger moved over to point at some open ocean, "And we're now at Dragon Roost Island, which is way over here," she now pointed to an island on a completely different sea chart, "Even if we started at Mainful is would take us almost a year to get back to this island, yet we got here in a week, it's impossible to get here in a week."

"And yet here we are," Gonzo said.

"But it doesn't make sense, what did we do? Go through time? Get hit by a cyclos when we were all asleep?" Tetra asked.

"Miss Tetra, I know what this is called."

"What?"

"It's called a miracle."

Tetra shook her head no, "That's impossible, miracles only happen in fairytales, and this is realty."

"I don't know," Gonzo reasoned, "Because I think we just witnessed one," After saying that Gonzo walked away leaving Tetra to ponder on his words.

* * *

Three days after they arrived, Tetra was woken up by Niko. She had different sleeping quarters from the rest of the pirates, because she was a girl, "Miss, Miss Tetra wake up!" Niko cried happily shaking her awake.

"Niko, you better have a good reason for waking me up," Tetra said not happy about being woken up from her beauty sleep.

"There is Miss, his fever has broken," Niko explained with excitement.

At hearing those words Tetra was awake at once, "It has, really."

"Yes it's a sure sign that he's going to be ok, and he's awake and aware now, so you can go and seem him."

Tetra was out of bed in a second, she shooed Niko out of the room so that she could change. She threw on some close without really looking at them and dashed from the room. Once she reached Links room, relief beyond words she felt at the sight of Link sitting up in bed, still looking pretty out of it, but looking better than he had since he came down with the illness.

"Tetra!" Link cried out seeming just as happy to see her as she was to seem him.

The lady pirate without words, walked over to Links bed and gave him a tight hug, "You stupid kid, don't you ever scare me like that again."

"I'll try not to," Link replied returning the hug.

* * *

The pirates stayed at Dragon Roost Island for another week, so that Link could recover fully. Tetra spent most of her time in Links room, and that feeling of love didn't leave here, there were many times the two of them would blush and look away from each other for no apparent reason. They both seemed to be in denial about there feelings.

At the end of the week Link was finally about to leave his bed, and they started packing up to leave again. Quill was giving orders to Tetra about Links health, "Make sure he does not over work himself and he needs to drink lots of liquids, and his cough will linger for several weeks."

"Oh don't worry, he's going to barely lift a finger for awhile," Tetra explained.

"Oh come on Tetra, I'm not helpless," Link complained.

"You have no say in this, you almost died, I'm not about to let a relapse happen."

"ALL ABOARD!" Gonzo called meaning that they were ready to set sail.

"Come back and visit again," Komali said, "But make sure that your all healthy next time."

"I'll put that into consideration," Tetra joked as they boarded the ship.

They set the sails and the wind took them all, all the Rito waved to them as they sailed off. Link and Tetra waved back until the island was nothing but a speck, "I must have been out of it for a long time, for us to make it to Dragon Roost Island," Link commented.

Tetra only smirked, she didn't tell him about there miracle, there was no need to. "All right every one, we got a lot of ground to make up for … lets find out new home."

The End

Thanks for reading.

* * *

**All right before you say it, I know that there was barely any romance in it. But I'm not a big fan of the love at first sight, I like the gradually falling in love. I'm considering a sequel but no promises. I might have rushed the ending a little, its just that I'm really bad at writing short stories, everything I write down wants to turn into a novel. Hope you enjoyed it, remember to leave reviews.**

**Until next time, God bless you all.**


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